Oscars 2026: Fil-Am Autumn Durald Arkapaw becomes first woman to win Best Cinematography

Autumn Durald Arkapaw just won the Oscar for Best Cinematography for making her the first woman — and the first woman of color — to do so in the said category. She is of Filipino descent.

Autumn won for her work in the Ryan Coogler film "Sinners," and in her acceptance speech, she thanked her director for believing in her, and asked all the women in the room to stand up “because I won’t be here without you guys."

"I really, really, truly mean that. I have felt so much love from all the women on this whole campaign and gotten to meet so many people. And I just feel like moments like this happen because of you guys, and I want to thank you for that.," she added.

"I was this little girl whose mother, who's over there (Filipina mom Peggy Bautista whose roots are from Masantol, Pampanga), told her that she could do anything, had to meet Ryan (Coogler). That girl also had to look up Ellen Kuras' name, who's also in this room today. And that girl also had to meet (American cinematographer and director) Rachel Morrison," Autumn said, as she dedicated her award to her son Aidan, her husband and parents.

"Thank you so much. This is an honor. Thank you."

Autumn recently won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Cinematography also for Ryan Coogler’s film “Sinners.” She also has already won honors from the National Board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, and New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Backstage, the press stood up and gave Autumn a warm welcome and applauded her for breaking barriers as the first woman to win an Oscar in this category.

Asked what her win hopes to open doors for representation for females in cinematography, Arkapaw replied, “It's tricky because when you go up there, you have so much to say, especially after 98 years. There's so much in your head and you're like, ‘Are they going to kick me off? Can I say all this stuff?’ And then no one was bringing up a piece of paper, so I tried to just have it all in my head. But one thing I was going to say that I had written down was that a lot of little girls who look like me will sleep really well tonight because they'll want to become cinematographers. And I know that. Like, I know that, you know, in here. So I think that, what I mean by that is that, just that, just being on stage getting this award for a movie like that will change so many girls' lives because they'll be inspired when they weren't before.”

As for having all the women stand up for her during her acceptance speech, Arkapaw said, “I think I just wanted to say thank you to all the women in the room, because moments like this don't happen without women, kind of standing up for you and advocating for you. I know that this happened because of that, so I wanted to say thank you, because I don't know a lot of the voters. I've learned over the past few months going through this process that it does take a village to make stuff like this happen. But this isn't about me anymore. This is about so much more. And I know that. I wanted it for all the ladies in the room, and I wanted it for all the girls at home. So it happened, and I'm so happy for that because I want to give that to them.

"I always believe you have to be yourself to be seen," she added, before once again thanking the "Sinners" director.

"Ryan (Coogler) opened a lot of doors for me and I am very grateful to him," Autumn said.

The lovely cinematographer attended the Oscar with her mom, stepdad and son, and looked amazing in her Thom Browne outfit.

Autumn is a 47-year-old cinematographer who is of Filipino descent on her mother's side and African American Creole on her father's side.

Ahead of Oscars night, Autumn told GMA News Online ahead of Oscars night that she's "honored just to be recognized for the work."

"[And] now to be recognized because it doesn't happen very often. Everyone knows, like being the fourth woman to be nominated — they feel new things. Even though women have been around a very long time, being photographers and worked in film, so, it's important. I feel the weight of that in a positive way. But to be able to inspire other girls and say, we can do this. It's very nice," she added.

Earlier during the awarding ceremony, Sean Penn won Best Supporting Actor, and Amy Madigan, Best Supporting Actress. Netflix sensation "Kpop Demon Hunters" was hailed Best Animated Feature.

— LA, GMA Integrated News